This invention relates to a motor control apparatus for a vehicle having a transmission connected to an engine through a clutch.
Some motor vehicles are of a type commonly called a hybrid vehicle having an internal combustion engine and an electric motor disposed therein as the power sources of the vehicle propulsion system. In such vehicle, there is a motor control apparatus for directly connecting a motor having both driving and power-generating functions to the engine, and for controlling the driving and the power-generating states of this motor in control states during stop and traveling set on the basis of a traveling state of the vehicle and a running state of the vehicle engine. The motor control apparatus of the vehicle lets a determination of control of the motor reflect a gear position of the transmission. The gear position of the transmission is detected by a gear position sensor, and the gear position sensor detects whether a certain gearing gear is engaged with a gear position, and whether a gear position is neutral so that all of the gearing gears are not engaged.
One such example of a motor control apparatus which lets a control reflect a gear position of the transmission is disclosed is published Japanese Applications Laid-Open No. 5-322032, No. 5-39750 and No. 10-220266.
The motor control apparatus indicated in published Japanese Application Laid-Open No. 5-322032 detects a change of the vehicle clutch by a clutch switch, and infers a gear position of the transmission from vehicle velocity and engine rotational speed. Thereby, the motor control apparatus measures gearing frequency from a change of the gear position and on the basis of these results, the motor control apparatus distinguishes a trouble of a clutch switch from matching with the gearing frequency and the change frequency of a clutch switch.
The motor control apparatus indicated in published Japanese Application Laid-Open No. 5-39750 controls the air-fuel ratio by opening and closing a flow quality control valve of an air-bleed passage of a vaporizer, from a traveling/stopping condition distinction which is executed by both signals of a neutral switch and a clutch switch or a vehicle velocity switch.
In the motor control apparatus indicated in published Japanese Application Laid-Open No. 10-220266, when a neutral switch becomes off after a neutral position of the transmission is removed, then a determination is made as to whether the engine power may be boosted on the basis of the engine rotational speed. When judgment to boost the engine power is approved, then the engine power may be boosted by doing a valve-opened degree correction of an ISC valve, and the apparatus controls a valve-opened degree correction value of the ISC valve so as to become small as the vehicle velocity rises.
Also, a usual motor control apparatus for a vehicle letting a control of a motor reflect a gear position of the transmission requires a gear position sensor, and detects whether a certain gearing gear is engaged with a gear position, and whether a gear position is neutral in that all of gearing gears are not engaged.
The motor control apparatus controls a motor by a gear position detected by a gear position sensor, set as a determining condition for approving various motor control states. For example, when an idle power generating control state is approved in stopping, the motor control apparatus controls so as to generate electricity by the motor, and when a drive/power generation prohibiting control state is approved in traveling, and the motor control apparatus controls so as to prohibit a drive/power generation of the motor.
However, when the gear position sensor for detecting a gear position of the transmission is disposed in a motor control apparatus, the structure of the motor control apparatus is complicated, and there is an undesired rise in cost. Moreover, as the gear position sensor detects a gear position the transmission mechanically, there are situations where gear position is detected improperly, and an error signal is output, and for this reason reliability deteriorates.
In order to obviate or at least minimize the above inconvenience, the present invention provides a motor control apparatus for a vehicle having an engine mounted in the vehicle which connects to a transmission through a clutch, and a motor disposed therein, the motor having both driving and power-generating functions. The control apparatus controls both driving and power-generating states of the motor on the basis of a traveling state of the vehicle and a running state of the engine, and includes: a vehicle velocity sensor for detecing a vehicle velocity of the vehicle; an engine rotational speed sensor for detecting an engine rotational speed of the engine; a first clutch switch which becomes off when the clutch is fully engaged, and successively from the fully engaged state, becomes on just before the clutch is placed in a half combination (partially engaged) state; a second clutch switch which becomes off when the clutch is fully released, and successively from the fully released state, which becomes on just before the clutch is placed in a half combination (partially engaged) state; and a motor control means for controlling so as to generate electricity by the motor, determining as the approval of an idling power-generating control state, when at least one of the following two conditions is satisfied: the condition that a vehicle velocity is zero and an engine rotational speed exceeds zero, and the condition that a vehicle velocity is zero and the second clutch switch is off.
In the motor control apparatus for a vehicle in this invention, the motor control means controls so as to generate electricity by the motor, determining as the approval of an idling power-generating control state, when at least one of the following two conditions is satisified: the condition that vehicle velocity is zero and the engine rotational speed exceeds zero; and the condition that vehicle velocity is zero and the second clutch switch is off. Thereby, without requiring a gear position sensor, the motor control means can determine that a gear position of a transmission is neutral; and then can determine the control state of the motor based on the neutral position determination of the transmission.